Turkish Standards Institute (TSE) President Tahir Büyükhelvac?gil has said they have the competency to certify products halal and are ready to do so when there is a need for it.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency on Thursday, Büyükhelvac?gil said the TSE has the required qualifications to certify products halal, but added that there is no need at the moment. Büyükhelvac?gil addressed Muslim countries and said they should come up with one certification standard. “If the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries [SMIIC] sets out the requirements for one type of halal certificate, the problem will easily be solved. The TSE can then use the documents issued by the SMIIC as a future reference,” the TSE president said.

Büyükhelvac?gil noted that developed countries make extensive use of standardization and products from these countries are considered good. He said Germany was the world’s leading exporter before China overtook it last year. “Germany set various standards and built institutions to set these standards in order to become a leading industrialized country,” Büyükhelvac?gil said to underline the importance of standards institutes.

Moreover, Büyükhelvac?gil said they receive many suggestions from Turkish consumers for new standards on specific products. “We should work more on creating standards in different fields. I hope Turkey will at some point have a national standardization strategy,” Büyükhelvac?gil said.

The TSE was established 56 years ago and now belongs to the top 10 institutions in the related field. Approximately 30,500 standards are registered with the TSE.